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A7r backup's in the field? Options?

jpaulmoore

Active member
Hello all, I will be on an trip to Iceland for 10 days and I am wanting to know if there are good solutions for backing up files in the field without a laptop. I know a laptop is ideal but mine is too old and too heavy and doesn't have enough storage anyway. I use a Epson P-7000 for my Canon 1Ds Mark lll that works fine but the A7r is not supported. Has anyone had any experience with any of the portable drives with a built in card reader?
Regards,
J. Paul
 

dandrewk

New member
By not supporting the A7r, do you mean the Epson can't display the RAW file embedded image? If so, don't you see a blank icon? You should be able to backup anyway.

I got the Sanho:

Sanho HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA2 Backup Storage SHDCSUDMA2000

I got it because it is totally modular (adding/swapping the hard drive is as easy as swapping a battery), has a decent display and is quite small. It supports Sony RAW and does incremental backups.
 

jpaulmoore

Active member
Hello Dandrewk, I haven't tried to import from the A7r to the Epson. I wasn't sure if it not being supported that it would even work or give me a retrievable/usable file. I think the storage is 80 GB and I will probably be shooting a lot more than that. The Sanho Hyperdrive looks to be one of the best options.
Thanks,
J. Paul
 

dandrewk

New member
Yeah, I still have the Epson p-3000. I just tried it, and it -does- display Sony RAW. But the hard drive is way too small for any length of trip.

If you go for the Sanho, you can save money by getting the version with no HD installed. Cheaper to buy the drive separate - it takes any SATA II 2.5" (laptop) drive. Very easy to install. The 500gb from Amazon was about $60.
 

ZoranC

New member
I heartily recommend Sanho ColorSpace solution. BTW, I know it takes any SATA 2.5" drive but do you really want to trust _ANY_ cheapest drive with your files?
 

ZoranC

New member
What brand/type of drive comes with the Sanho? Is it a good drive?
I don't remember exact brand and model from a top of my head, I can look at it when I get home, but I do know it was a best one for that kind of application, it had low power requirements (you run on battery in the field) and was very resilient to vibrations / shakes / drops (you don't want to lose your data as drive gets bounced around during travel or due to accidental drop).
 

jpaulmoore

Active member
Hello all, I bit the bullet and purchased the 500 GB Sanho. Thanks again for the feedback! I think I will be less stressed having a backup.....but a little more broke.
J. Paul
 

dandrewk

New member
What brand/type of drive comes with the Sanho? Is it a good drive?
Thanks,
J. Paul
Sanho may change the drive over time, but I believe they use Western Digital BPVTs - SATA II, 2.5", 5400 rpm. Here's the one I purchased:

Amazon.com: WD Blue 500 GB Mobile Hard Drive: 2.5 Inch, 5400 RPM, SATA II, 8 MB Cache - WD5000BPVT: Electronics

BH sells the Colorspace II without any drive for $248. That same unit with a 500 GB sells for $498. That's a $250 for a drive that sells separately for $50 - quite a markup.

Installing the drive is as easy as snapping in a battery. You then have the Sanho format the drive (in settings) and you're good to go.

Really, these days, it's hard to buy a bad, unreliable hard drive. If you stick with known brands (Western Digital, Seagate etc.) you'll be fine. You could get any size drive that suits you. You may find one with a faster spin rate which should mean faster backups, but that would come at a cost to battery longevity.
 

Professional

Active member
I am going to buy Sanho with HGST drive, i found 1TB drive at good price on BH, the reviews shows great positive comments about this drive, and it is fast, i don't care much about battery longevity because simply i can buy 1-2 more batteries as backup and charge them all, but the only thing i am worried about is if that brand of HGST is reliable and not much issues from customers used it.
 

ZoranC

New member
Really, these days, it's hard to buy a bad, unreliable hard drive. If you stick with known brands (Western Digital, Seagate etc.) you'll be fine.
Failure rates I am seeing indicate quite the opposite.

Also when one is selecting hard drive for units that will be mainly transported around not any design will cut it.
 

dandrewk

New member
I am going to buy Sanho with HGST drive, i found 1TB drive at good price on BH, the reviews shows great positive comments about this drive, and it is fast, i don't care much about battery longevity because simply i can buy 1-2 more batteries as backup and charge them all, but the only thing i am worried about is if that brand of HGST is reliable and not much issues from customers used it.
HGST is owned by Western Digital, who have been making hard drives for decades. The only drives I would avoid these days are the generic (no name) drives that are sold on eBay, although apparently Seagate has had some issues.



Note - the chart is for all drives, including the 3.5" commonly found in desktops.

Manufacturers of 2.5" hard drives, knowing that they are used primarily in portable devices, do a good job with shock proofing. As a result, the reliability across most brands has remarkably improved over the years. If it works out of the box, there's an excellent chance it will work for years.

As long as you don't use the Sanho as a frisbee, you should be fine.
 

Professional

Active member
^^^ great to hear, i already placed a hard drive in order list, and later i will buy that Sanho HyperDrive casing only later and then i am done.
 

nsng

Member
Another way to back up files is to use a micro usb otg( on the go ) card reader with your smart phone or tablet. In my case, I am using a Galaxy S3 with a 64GB micro sd card as additional storage. I attach the card reader to the phone via the micro usb connection. Insert the sd card into the reader and the S3 will see the folder and files. I can then copy or move these files to the micro sd card. I will be upgrading to the S5 which can use the higher capacity128GB micro sd card.

N S Ng
 
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